Systems and methods for synchronizing playback at multiple locations

ABSTRACT

Embodiments provide methods and systems for synchronizing simultaneous media asset viewing for users at different geographical viewing locations. In some embodiments, a first user device receives a request to synchronize viewing of a media asset with a second user device. Control circuitry may automatically determine that the media asset is available to the second user device after becoming available to the first user device. Based on the determining, the control circuitry may automatically schedule the media asset for recording on the first user device. In some embodiments, control circuitry synchronizes viewing of the media asset when the media access becomes available to the second user device. The second user device may access a video feed transmitted by a media source, while the first user device accesses a video feed of a recorded media asset.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/338,526, filed Dec. 28, 2011, now allowed, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

With conventional media guidance applications, if viewers in differentlocations want to watch a program at the same time, certaincomplications and uncertainties can arise. For example, if one viewer isin a location that airs a program before it is aired in a secondviewer's location, the second viewer may not know whether the firstviewer has already viewed the program. If the program is a drama orsports event, the first viewer may spoil a plotline or result or aprogram for the second viewer. If the program is a game show, the firstviewer may have learned answers to trivia questions or puzzles in anearlier viewing. In these situations, the second viewer may becomeannoyed or feel cheated by the first viewer. Additionally, if viewersare in different regions or have different media providers, the airingsof the program may not be lined up when taking into account, forexample, the lengths of commercial breaks. This would cause difficultyin coordinating synchronized viewing. In addition, previously consideredmethods for synchronizing recorded media do not consider synchronizing arecorded program with a program presently airing in a differentlocation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, methods and systems are described herein for synchronizingsimultaneous media asset viewing for users at different geographicalviewing locations. In one embodiment, a user device receives from a usera request to synchronize the viewing of a particular program with asecond user device. The user device may send an invitation toparticipate in synchronized viewing to the second user device, which auser of the second user device may either accept or decline. If the useraccepts the invitation, a notification may be sent to the first userdevice. If the program becomes available to second user device afterbecoming available to the first user device, e.g., because the firstuser device is in an earlier time zone than the second user device, thefirst device may record the program so that it is available to the firstuser device when the program becomes available to the second userdevice. To determine if any user devices should record the program, aprocessor may retrieve, from storage and/or an external data source,information indicating the time at which the program will be available(i.e., the availability times) for the first and second user devices.The processor then may compare the availability times of the userdevices to determine the user device at which the program becomesavailable the latest (in this case, the second user device). Based onthe result of the comparison, the processor may generate instructionsfor the first user device to automatically schedule recording of theprogram. Once the program has become available to the first and seconduser devices, the program may be synchronized as the program is beingtransmitted to the second user device. During synchronization, the firstuser device may access the program from a video feed retrieved fromstorage, and the second user device may access the program from a videofeed transmitted from a media source.

In some embodiments, if the program becomes available to the first userbefore the scheduled time for synchronized viewing, the first user mayhave the opportunity to watch the program before the scheduled time.This may negatively impact the joint synchronized viewing experience ofthe user of the second user device, since the user of the first userdevice will know, for example, plot twists, game scores, or triviaanswers before the user of the second user device. To prevent thisundesirable situation, the second user device may automatically bealerted if the first user device displays the program before thescheduled time for synchronized viewing. In some embodiments, the userof the first user device is then prevented from participating in thesynchronized viewing. To avoid watching a program ahead of the scheduledtime and experiencing such consequences, the first user device maypresent a warning to the user if the user attempts to watch a programbefore its scheduled time.

Because the program is accessed by the user devices from differentsources, different versions of the program may not line up exactly intime. For example, the lengths of the advertisements or the speed atwhich a program is displayed to different users may differ betweendifferent versions of the same program. Thus, in some embodiments, aprocessor receives data related to frames or segments displayed atparticular times at the user devices. From this data, the processor cangenerate commands to speed up, slow down, or temporarily pause thedisplay of the program at a particular user device. In some embodiments,a user device displaying a video as it is being received may include abuffer. The buffer can enable small adjustments in display of theprogram to maintain synchronization with other user devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows and illustrative display screen that may be used to providemedia guidance application listings and other media guidance informationin accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative display screen that may be used toprovide media guidance application listings in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative interactive media system inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative display screen for displaying an option to setup synchronized viewing for a program in accordance with an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative display screen for displaying selectablesynchronization set up elements in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative display screen showing a selectable list ofbuddies and groups for synchronized viewing in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative display screen showing selectablesynchronization setup options in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative display screen showing a synchronizationsummary for a program scheduled for synchronized viewing in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative display screen showing a synchronizationinvitation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative display screen showing buddy setup featuresfor modifying buddy lists for use in synchronized viewing in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is an illustrative display screen showing a warning overlayscreen in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative display screen showing synchronized programdisplay with a warning indicator in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 14 is an illustrative display screen showing synchronized programdisplay with a chat feature in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative display screen showing synchronized programdisplay with a video chat feature in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative process for setting up and engaging insynchronized viewing in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative process 1700 for using a synchronizationmaster to synchronize viewing on multiple devices in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative process for receiving and responding to asynchronization invitation in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative process for addressing a situation inwhich a device scheduled for synchronized viewing of a program hasviewed the program ahead of schedule in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 20 shows an illustrative process for addressing a situation inwhich a device scheduled for synchronized viewing of a program hasviewed a part of the program ahead of schedule in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The amount of media available to users in any given media deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate media selections and easily identify media that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the media for which they provide guidance. One typical type of mediaguidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof media content including conventional television programming (providedvia traditional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means),as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as invideo-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming media,downloadable media, Webcasts, etc.), and other types of media or videocontent. Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among andlocate content related to the video content including, for example,video clips, articles, advertisements, chat sessions, games, etc.Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locatemultimedia content. The term multimedia is defined herein as media andcontent that utilizes at least two different content forms, such astext, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity contentforms. Multimedia content may be recorded and played, displayed oraccessed by information content processing devices, such as computerizedand electronic devices, but can also be part of a live performance. Itshould be understood that the invention embodiments that are discussedin relation to media content are also applicable to other types ofcontent, such as video, audio and/or multimedia.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on personal computers (PCs)and other devices on which they traditionally did not, such as hand-heldcomputers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, orother mobile devices. On these devices users are able to navigate amongand locate the same media available through a television. Consequently,media guidance is necessary on these devices, as well. The guidanceprovided may be for media content available only through a television,for media content available only through one or more of these devices,or for media content available both through a television and one or moreof these devices. The media guidance applications may be provided ason-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or as stand-aloneapplications or clients on hand-held computers, PDAs, mobile telephones,or other mobile devices. The various devices and platforms that mayimplement media guidance applications are described in more detailbelow.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia listings and media information to users. FIGS. 1-2 showillustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance,and in particular media listings. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1-2and 5-15 may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. Whilethe displays of FIGS. 1-2 and 5-15 are illustrated as full screendisplays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid over mediacontent being displayed. A user may indicate a desire to access mediainformation by selecting a selectable option provided in a displayscreen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, a hyperlink,etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remotecontrol or other user input interface or device. In response to theuser's indication, the media guidance application may provide a displayscreen with media information organized in one of several ways, such asby time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, by media type, bycategory (e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid program listings display 100 arranged bytime and channel that also enables access to different types of mediacontent in a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with: (1)a column of channel/media type identifiers 104, where each channel/mediatype identifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a differentchannel or media type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers 106,where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies atime block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of programlistings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides thetitle of the program provided on the listing's associated channel andtime. With a user input device, a user can select program listings bymoving highlight region 110. Information relating to the program listingselected by highlight region 110 may be provided in program informationregion 112. Region 112 may include, for example, the program title, theprogram description, the time the program is provided (if applicable),the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, andother desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming provided accordingto a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming which is not provided according to a schedule.Non-linear programming may include content from different media sourcesincluding on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored media content(e.g., video content stored on a digital video recorder (DVR), digitalvideo disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD), etc.), or othertime-insensitive media content. On-demand content may include bothmovies and original media content provided by a particular mediaprovider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “Curb YourEnthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L. P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming media or downloadable media through anInternet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide listings for non-linear programming includingon-demand listing 114, recorded media listing 116, and Internet contentlisting 118. A display combining listings for content from differenttypes of media sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media”display. The various permutations of the types of listings that may bedisplayed that are different than display 100 may be based on userselection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display of onlyrecorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and broadcast listings,etc.). As illustrated, listings 114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanningthe entire time block displayed in grid 102 to indicate that selectionof these listings may provide access to a display dedicated to on-demandlistings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. Inother embodiments, listings for these media types may be includeddirectly in grid 102. Additional listings may be displayed in responseto the user selecting one of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing anarrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similarmanner as selecting navigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the presentinvention.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for media content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the media listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the media content displayed in grid 102.Advertisement 124 may be selectable and provide further informationabout media content, provide information about a product or a service,enable purchasing of media content, a product, or a service, providemedia content relating to the advertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 maybe targeted based on a user's profile/preferences, monitored useractivity, the type of display provided, or on other suitable targetedadvertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over media content or aguidance application display or embedded within a display.Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, videoclips, or other types of media content. Advertisements may be stored inthe user equipment with the guidance application, in a databaseconnected to the user equipment, in a remote location (includingstreaming media servers), or on other storage means or a combination ofthese locations. Providing advertisements in a media guidanceapplication is discussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson etal., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/347,673, filed Jan. 17, 2003,Ward, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004, andSchein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the present invention.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types of mediacontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens of the present invention), or may be invoked by auser by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated orassignable button on a user input device. The selectable options withinoptions region 126 may concern features related to program listings ingrid 102 or may include options available from a main menu display.Features related to program listings may include searching for other airtimes or ways of receiving a program, recording a program, enablingseries recording of a program, setting program and/or channel as afavorite, purchasing a program, or other features. Options availablefrom a main menu display may include search options, VOD options,parental control options, access to various types of listing displays,subscribe to a premium service, edit a user's profile, access a browseoverlay, or other options. Another selectable option in the optionsregion 126 may relate to setting up synchronized viewing with a viewerat a different location.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of media content listings displayed(e.g., only HDTV programming, user-specified broadcast channels based onfavorite channel selections, re-ordering the display of channels,recommended media content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, and other desired customizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the media the useraccesses and/or other interactions the user may have with the guidanceapplication. Additionally, the media guidance application may obtain allor part of other user profiles that are related to a particular user(e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the user accesses, such aswww.allrovi.com, from other media guidance applications the useraccesses, from other interactive applications the user accesses, from ahandheld device of the user, etc.), and/or obtain information about theuser from other sources that the media guidance application may access.As a result, a user can be provided with a unified guidance applicationexperience across the user's different devices. This type of userexperience is described in greater detail below in connection with FIG.4. Additional personalized media guidance application features aredescribed in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/437,304, filed Nov. 9, 1999, and Ellis et al.,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/105,128, filed Feb. 21, 2002, whichare hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 formedia content information organized based on media type, genre, and/orother organization criteria. In display 200, television listings option204 is selected, thus providing listings 206, 208, 210, and 212 asbroadcast program listings. Unlike the listings from FIG. 1, thelistings in display 200 are not limited to simple text (e.g., theprogram title) and icons to describe media. Rather, in display 200 thelistings may provide graphical images including cover art, still imagesfrom the media content, video clip previews, live video from the mediacontent, or other types of media that indicate to a user the mediacontent being described by the listing. Each of the graphical listingsmay also be accompanied by text to provide further information about themedia content associated with the listing. For example, listing 208 mayinclude more than one portion, including media portion 214 and textportion 216. Media portion 214 and/or text portion 216 may be selectableto view video in full-screen or to view program listings related to thevideo displayed in media portion 214 (e.g., to view listings for thechannel that the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 islarger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the media provider or basedon user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating media listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/324,202, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access media content and the media guidance application (andits display screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.User equipment device 300 may receive media content and data viainput/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may providemedia content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming,Internet content, and other video or audio) and data to controlcircuitry 304, which includes processing circuitry 306 and storage 308.Control circuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands,requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 302. I/O path 302 mayconnect control circuitry 304 (and specifically processing circuitry306) to one or more communications paths (described below). I/Ofunctions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry306 such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices,etc. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executes instructionsfor a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage 308).In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 may receive user input forscheduling synchronized viewing of a program with other user equipment.Control circuitry 304 may automatically generate an invitation to sendto other user equipment. In particular, the invitation may instructcontrol circuitry 304 on the other user equipment to display theinvitation to a user with display 312 and receive a response to theinvitation at the other user equipment, which is sent back to thesending user equipment. Control circuitry 304 may determine whether itor other user equipment should record the program when it becomesavailable. In some cases, control circuitry 304 may instruct tuning andencoding circuitry to record a program for synchronized viewing. Controlcircuitry 304 may coordinate synchronized of a program viewing withother user equipment. These and other aspects of control circuitry 304are described in further detail below.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, or a wirelessmodem for communications with other equipment. Such communications mayinvolve the Internet or any other suitable communications networks orpaths (which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below). In particular, the communications circuitry maybe suitable for communicating over a network with other user equipmentdevices, either directly or through a central server, to schedulesimultaneous viewing of programs and synchronize the display of programsfor simultaneous viewing.

Memory (e.g., random-access memory, read-only memory, or any othersuitable memory), hard drives, optical drives, or any other suitablefixed or removable storage devices (e.g., DVD recorder, CD recorder,video cassette recorder, or other suitable recording device) may beprovided as storage 308 that is part of control circuitry 304. Storage308 may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. Forexample, user equipment device 300 may include a hard drive for a DVR(sometimes called a personal video recorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorderas a secondary storage device. Storage 308 may be used to store varioustypes of media described herein and guidance application data, includingprogram information, guidance application settings, user preferences orprofile information, or other data used in operating the guidanceapplication. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch aboot-up routine and other instructions).

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting media into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment to receive and to display,to play, or to record media content. The tuning and encoding circuitrymay also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitry describedherein, including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding,decoding, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented usingsoftware running on one or more general purpose or specializedprocessors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneoustuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture(PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). If storage 308 isprovided as a separate device from user equipment 300, the tuning andencoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated withstorage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300. Display 312 may be one or more of a monitor, atelevision, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, or anyother suitable equipment for displaying visual images. In someembodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. Speakers 314 may beprovided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device 300or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and othermedia content displayed on display 312 may be played through speakers314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver(not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 314.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally, and data for use bythe application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from the VBI ofa television channel, from an out-of-band feed, or using anothersuitable approach). In another embodiment, the media guidanceapplication is a client-server based application. Data for use by athick or thin client implemented on user equipment device 300 isretrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the userequipment device 300. In one example of a client-server based guidanceapplication, control circuitry 304 runs a web browser that interpretsweb pages provided by a remote server.

In yet other embodiments, the media guidance application is downloadedand interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine(run by control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidanceapplication may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF),received by control circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, andinterpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry 304. Forexample, the guidance application may be an EBIF application. In otherembodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series ofJAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine orother suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some ofsuch embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,wireless user communications device 406, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing media, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices. User equipmentdevices, on which a media guidance application is implemented, mayfunction as a standalone device or may be part of a network of devices.Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and arediscussed in more detail below.

User television equipment 402 may include a set-top box, an integratedreceiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a televisionset, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video-cassette recorder(VCR), a local media server, or other user television equipment. One ormore of these devices may be integrated to be a single device, ifdesired. User computer equipment 404 may include a PC, a laptop, atablet, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PC mediaserver, a PC media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV is atrademark owned by Microsoft Corp. Wireless user communications device406 may include PDAs, a mobile telephone, a portable video player, aportable music player, a portable gaming machine, or other wirelessdevices.

It should be noted that with the advent of television tuner cards forPC's, WebTV, and the integration of video into other user equipmentdevices, the lines have become blurred when trying to classify a deviceas one of the above devices. In fact, each of user television equipment402, user computer equipment 404, and wireless user communicationsdevice 406 may utilize at least some of the system features describedabove in connection with FIG. 3 and, as a result, include flexibilitywith respect to the type of media content available on the device. Forexample, user television equipment 402 may be Internet-enabled allowingfor access to Internet content, while user computer equipment 404 mayinclude a tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may also have the same layout on the variousdifferent types of user equipment or may be tailored to the displaycapabilities of the user equipment. For example, on user computerequipment, the guidance application may be provided as a web siteaccessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidance applicationmay be scaled down for wireless user communications devices.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device (e.g., a user may have atelevision set and a computer) and also more than one of each type ofuser equipment device (e.g., a user may have a PDA and a mobiletelephone and/or multiple television sets).

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.tvguide.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile device (e.g., Blackberry)network, cable network, public switched telephone network, or othertypes of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. BLACKBERRY is a service mark owned by Research In MotionLimited Corp. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together includeone or more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, afiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internetcommunications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcastor other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wirelesscommunications path or combination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn withdotted lines to indicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG.4 it is a wireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid linesto indicate they are wired paths (although these paths may be wirelesspaths, if desired). Communications with the user equipment devices maybe provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shownas a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes media content source 416 and media guidance datasource 418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths420 and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the media content source 416 and mediaguidance data source 418 may be exchanged over one or morecommunications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more than one ofeach of media content source 416 and media guidance data source 418, butonly one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. (The different types of each of these sources are discussedbelow.) If desired, media content source 416 and media guidance datasource 418 may be integrated as one source device. Althoughcommunications between sources 416 and 418 with user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 are shown as through communications network 414, insome embodiments, sources 416 and 418 may communicate directly with userequipment devices 402, 404, and 406 via communication paths (not shown)such as those described above in connection with paths 408, 410, and412.

Media content source 416 may include one or more types of mediadistribution equipment including a television distribution facility,cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, programmingsources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.),intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers,on-demand media servers, and other media content providers. NBC is atrademark owned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is atrademark owned by the ABC, INC., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Media content source 416 may be the originator ofmedia content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.)or may not be the originator of media content (e.g., an on-demand mediacontent provider, an Internet provider of video content of broadcastprograms for downloading, etc.). Media content source 416 may includecable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internetproviders, or other providers of media content. Media content source 416may also include a remote media server used to store different types ofmedia content (including video content selected by a user), in alocation remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of media content, and providing remotelystored media content to user equipment are discussed in greater detailin connection with Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 2099, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asmedia listings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times,broadcast channels, media titles, media descriptions, ratingsinformation (e.g., parental control ratings, critic's ratings, etc.),genre or category information, actor information, logo data forbroadcasters' or providers' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standarddefinition, high definition, etc.), advertisement information (e.g.,text, images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, and any othertype of guidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among andlocate desired media selections.

Media guidance application data may be provided to the user equipmentdevices using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidanceapplication may be a stand-alone interactive television program guidethat receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuousfeed, trickle feed, or data in the vertical blanking interval of achannel). Program schedule data and other guidance data may be providedto the user equipment on a television channel sideband, in the verticalblanking interval of a television channel, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other guidancedata may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog or digitaltelevision channels. Program schedule data and other guidance data maybe provided to the user equipment with any suitable frequency (e.g.,continuously, daily, a user-specified period of time, a system-specifiedperiod of time, in response to a request from user equipment, etc.). Insome approaches, guidance data from media guidance data source 418 maybe provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a guidance application client residing on the user's equipmentmay initiate sessions with source 418 to obtain guidance data whenneeded. Media guidance data source 418 may provide user equipmentdevices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidance application itself orsoftware updates for the media guidance application.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. In otherembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only the client resides on the user equipment device.For example, media guidance applications may be implemented partially asa client application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device300 and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g.,media guidance data source 418). The guidance application displays maybe generated by the media guidance data source 418 and transmitted tothe user equipment devices. The media guidance data source 418 may alsotransmit data for storage on the user equipment, which then generatesthe guidance application displays based on instructions processed bycontrol circuitry.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of media content and guidance data may communicate with eachother for the purpose of accessing media and providing media guidance.The present invention may be applied in any one or a subset of theseapproaches, or in a system employing other approaches for deliveringmedia and providing media guidance. The following three approachesprovide specific illustrations of the generalized example of FIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribe above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar deviceprovided on a home network, or via communications network 414. Each ofthe multiple individuals in a single home may operate different userequipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirablefor various media guidance information or settings to be communicatedbetween the different user equipment devices. For example, it may bedesirable for users to maintain consistent media guidance applicationsettings on different user equipment devices within a home network, asdescribed in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types of userequipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each otherto transmit media content. For example, a user may transmit mediacontent from user computer equipment to a portable video player orportable music player.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access media content and obtain media guidance. For example,some users may have home networks that are accessed by in-home andmobile devices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/927,814, filed Aug. 26, 2004, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith media content source 416 to access media content. Specifically,within a home, users of user television equipment 404 and user computerequipment 406 may access the media guidance application to navigateamong and locate desirable media content. Users may also access themedia guidance application outside of the home using wireless usercommunications devices 406 to navigate among and locate desirable mediacontent.

It will be appreciated that while the discussion of media content hasfocused on video content, the principles of media guidance can beapplied to other types of media content, such as music, images, etc.

As discussed herein, an application running on user equipment may beused for scheduling synchronized viewing, communicating informationrelated to the synchronized viewing to another interactive mediaguidance application on a user equipment device in another geographiclocation, and simultaneously synchronizing display of the program withthe interactive media guidance application in the other geographiclocation. These functions are described herein as being performed by orin relation to an interactive media guidance application; however, inother embodiments, any other application running on user equipment canbe used to carry out the methods described herein. As used herein, aprogram refers to a media asset which can be accessed via a video feed,an audio feed, a video file, or an audio file. As used herein,synchronized viewing refers to a process wherein a program is displayedor otherwise presented to a first viewer on a first user equipmentdevice while the same program or a similar program (e.g., the same baseprogram broadcast on a different network with different advertisements)is being displayed or presented to a second viewer by a second userequipment device, such that during a given segment of time, the portionof the program being presented by the first user equipment device issubstantially the same as the portion of the program being presented bythe second user equipment device. In other words, the first and seconduser equipment devices simultaneously present the same program. As usedherein, “Buddies” refer to other users that may participate insynchronized viewing, and “Groups” refer to collections of two or moreother users that may participate in synchronized viewing.

In some embodiments, the program becomes available at some userequipment devices before it becomes available at other user equipmentdevices. A program becomes available when a user equipment device isable to access the program. For example, a program may become availablewhen it is broadcast, webcast, or made available on-demand to atelevision, computer, smart phone, or other media access device. Aprogram may be made available when the media access provider receives apayment for a particular program (e.g., a pay-per-view program). Aprogram may be made available when a user receives physical media, suchas a CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-ray disc, or USB drive, containing the program.

In general, control circuitry 304 at a first user equipment devicereceives via user input interface 310 input from a user to schedulesynchronized viewing with one or more users of additional user equipmentdevices. The input may include, for example, the program forsimultaneous viewing, the time at which the program becomes available atthe first user equipment device and/or additional user equipment device,and an identification of at least one other user to engage insynchronized viewing. Control circuitry 304 communicates viacommunications network 414 information related to the scheduledsynchronized viewing to the user equipment of the at least one otheruser. Control circuitry 304 determines whether it should cause the firstuser equipment device to record the program (e.g., if the program airsat the first user equipment device before it airs on another userequipment device) and records the program if needed. Once the programbecomes available to all of the user equipment devices, controlcircuitry 304 of one or more of the user devices and/or a central servercoordinate synchronized viewing of the program.

The process of setting up and carrying out synchronized viewing betweenmultiple viewers is illustrated by the display screens shown in FIGS. 5through 15. The process of setting up synchronized viewing is initiatedwhen control circuitry 304 receives an indication that a user wishes toschedule synchronized viewing. This is illustrated in FIG. 5, which isan illustrative display screen 500 of an interactive media guidanceapplication that shows an option to set up synchronized viewing for aprogram. As shown in FIG. 1, a user can select a program listing by, forexample, moving a highlight region or a cursor in a program guide 502.Information relating to the program listing selected in the programguide 502 may be provided in program information region 504. The programinformation region 504 may include, for example, the program title, theprogram description, the time the program becomes available, the channelthe program is on, the program's rating, and any other information thatmay be of interest to the user. The program information region 504includes a Set Up Synchronized Viewing button 506. Selecting the Set UpSynchronized Viewing button 506 causes control circuitry 304 to instructthe display to present synchronized viewing setup user interfaces, suchas those illustrated by the display screens of FIGS. 6-9. In particular,after control circuitry 304 has received a command from a user to set upsynchronized viewing for the program shown in the program informationregion, control circuitry 304 may instruct the display to present aninterface that allows a user to select one or more other viewers toinvite for synchronized viewing.

In other embodiments, control circuitry 304 may provide access tosynchronized viewing setup via the interactive media guidanceapplication without requiring the user to select a program in a programguide. For example, as described in relation to FIG. 1, one of theselectable options in the options region 126 of the interactive mediaguide application may be an option to set up synchronized viewing. Inother embodiments, a user input device may have a particular button orsequence of buttons which, when selected, cause control circuitry 304 topresent a synchronized viewing setup user interface, such as theSynchronize Viewing screen shown in FIG. 600.

The Synchronize Viewing screen 600 presents selectable synchronizationsetup elements. As shown, the synchronize menu 602 includes threebuttons: a Select Buddies button 604, a Select Program button 606, and aConfirm Synchronization button 608. If the user selects the SelectBuddies button 604, control circuitry 304 causes the display to presenta user interface on a new screen or an overlay by which controlcircuitry 304 can receive input from the user indicating buddies orgroups of buddies to invite to participate in synchronized viewing. Ifthe user selects the Select Program button 604, control circuitry 304causes the display to present a user interface on a new screen or anoverlay, such as the program grid 102 shown in FIG. 1, by which controlcircuitry 304 can receive input the user indicating a selected programfor synchronized viewing. The synchronization menu 602 may includeadditional buttons to display additional menus as needed. Once the userhas chosen buddies and a program, the user may select the ConfirmSynchronization button 608, which causes control circuitry 304 to addthe program to its schedule, send the synchronization information to theselected buddies, and in some cases, record the program. In someembodiments, the user may review and confirm the settings through, forexample, the Synchronization Summary screen shown in FIG. 9.

If the user selected a program before selecting to set upsynchronization, e.g., as shown in FIG. 5, control circuitry 304 may notdisplay the synchronization menu 602, but rather immediately presents auser interface with which the user can select buddies.

A Select Buddies screen 700 for presenting selectable buddies and groupsof buddies to invite to participate in synchronized viewing is shown inFIG. 7. A buddy selection menu 702 displays a list of buddies 704 and alist of groups 710. In general, buddies are other users that a userknows personally, such as family member, friends, club or team members,or coworkers. Groups are collections of two or more users. In someembodiments, a group is a list of buddies with which a user wants towatch multiple programs. For example, a fantasy football league maycreate a fantasy football group to set up synchronized viewing of NFLgames. In such a case, it may be easier for the user to select a groupof his buddies than select each individual buddy each time the userwants to set up a synchronized viewing. In some embodiments, a user cangroup his buddies without the buddies receiving notification that theyare in a group. In other embodiments, information about a group createdby one user is proliferated to the other members of the group, so thateach member knows they belong to the group and may be able to invite thegroup for synchronized viewing. In some embodiments, group members maynot be personally known to a user, but may share a common interest andsubscribe to a group based on the common interest. For example, a fan ofthe program “American Idol” may join an American Idol group toparticipate in synchronized viewing with other fans that the fan may ormay not know. In some embodiments, a group may have one or more groupmasters who can create synchronization invitations as well as groupmembers who can receive and respond to, but not create, synchronizationinvitations.

Via the buddy selection menu 702, control circuitry 304 receives inputfrom a user indicating one or more available buddies and/or groups toinvite for synchronized viewing. For example, the buddy selection menu702 may include check boxes 706 and 712 next to each buddy and group.Control circuitry 304 may then cause the display to visually indicatethat the buddy or group has been selected by, e.g., putting a check 708or other marking in the box 706 or 712, by highlighting the buddy, bychanging the color of the buddy's name or group name, or another visualrepresentation.

The buddy selection menu 702 also includes a Buddy Setup button 716.When the Buddy Setup button 716 is selected, control circuitry 304instructs the display to present a user interface on a new screen or anoverlay. From this Buddy Setup interface, control circuitry 304 canreceive instructions to change the buddy list by, for example, adding orremoving buddies, changing information related to existing buddies, oradding, removing, or editing groups. An exemplary implementation of abuddy selection menu is shown in FIG. 11. The buddy selection menu 702also includes a Confirm Selected Buddies button 718. When the ConfirmSelected Buddies button 718 is selected, control circuitry 304 storesthe selected buddies and causes the display to present a different userinterface screen, such as main Synchronize Viewing screen 600, or aninterface screen for performing an additional step in synchronizationsetup, such as a Select Program screen which displays a selectableprogram guide, or Program Synchronization Options screen, shown in FIG.8. The buddy selection menu 702 may also include a Configure Buddiesbutton 720, which, when selected, causes control circuitry 304 toinstruct the display to present configurable options for the display ofthe buddies and groups, e.g., the order in which the buddies and groupsshould be displayed in the interactive media guidance application,whether any buddies or groups should be automatically included for allor particular programs, and how many buddies and/or groups to display onthe screen.

In addition to selecting the program and other viewers for synchronizedviewing, other options, such as reminders and frequency settings, may bereceived by control circuitry 304. A Program Synchronization Optionsscreen 800 for presenting such selectable program synchronization setupoptions is shown in FIG. 8. At the top of the screen, control circuitry304 instructs the display to present a summary of information 802 of theprogram selected for synchronized viewing. Below the summary section 802is a selectable frequency setting which lists several frequencies 804with which the program can be scheduled for synchronized viewing and acheck box selection interface 806 for receiving user input of afrequency. Through the frequency selection interface 806, controlcircuitry 304 receives input indicating that the program should bescheduled for synchronized viewing a single time only, each time anepisode is aired, or only when new episodes are aired. The ProgramSynchronization Options screen 800 also includes a selectable remindersetting 808 with which control circuitry 304 can receive an instructionto present a reminder to the user that the user is scheduled to engagein synchronized viewing through a check box selection interface 810. Thereminder times listed are lengths of time before the synchronizedviewing is scheduled to begin. For example, control circuitry 304 canpresent a reminder 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or anhour before synchronized viewing is scheduled. In some embodiments,control circuitry 304 may be configured to instruct a device other thanthe user equipment with which the synchronized program is presented todisplay a reminder or otherwise alert the user of the scheduled time forsynchronized viewing. For example, if the user watches the program on atelevision, the reminder may be presented on the user's cell phone.

Once information related to some or all of the program, buddies and/orgroups, reminder, and frequency of the program selected for synchronizedviewing has been received, control circuitry 304 may seek a userconfirmation of the synchronization selections. To allow the user toreview the scheduled synchronized viewing and confirm the settings,control circuitry 304 may instruct the display to present aSynchronization Summary screen 900, shown in FIG. 9. The synchronizationsummary screen 900 may be displayed after control circuitry 304 has acommand from the user that the user is finished inputting scheduleinformation and wishes to confirm the synchronization setup by, forexample, a user selection of the Confirm Synchronization button 608 ofFIG. 6. The Synchronization Summary screen 900 may be displayed any timebetween the confirmation of the synchronization setup and before theprogram is simultaneously viewed in synchronized viewing. For example,if control circuitry 304 receives input that a program scheduled forsynchronized viewing was selected in a program guide (e.g., grid programlistings display 100 of FIG. 1), control circuitry 304 may instruct thedisplay to present a synchronization summary 900 for the program. At thetop of the synchronization summary screen 900, a summary of information902 of the program selected for synchronized viewing is displayed. Belowthe program summary section 902, additional information related to thesynchronized viewing, such as the scheduled viewing times for invitedparticipants in their respective time zones, the channels on which theprogram is aired for the respective invited participants, the remindersettings for each of the invited participants in synchronized viewing,and the frequency setting, are displayed. In other embodiments, lessinformation, additional information, or alternative information isdisplayed in the summary. The contents of the summary section may changeover time. For example, if an invited participant declines toparticipate in synchronized viewing, this may be noted in the summarysection, and the information for the participant in the variousaforementioned categories may be removed. Similarly, if the user whocreated the synchronization invitation or another user invitesadditional participants, information related to the one or moreadditional participants may be added to the summary.

The synchronization summary screen 900 also includes various buttons906-914 for receiving input that the user wants to adjust thesynchronization settings. If the control circuitry 304 receives aselection of one of these buttons, control circuitry 304 causes thedisplay to present, on a new screen or an overlay, an appropriate userinterface for receiving changes to the program, receiving instructionsto add or remove buddies, receiving reminder settings for buddies,receiving changes to a reminder setting, or receiving a command tochange the frequency of synchronized viewing. Below these buttons is aDone button 916 which, when selected, causes the interactive mediaguidance application to return to a different screen, such as the gridprogram listings display 100 shown in FIG. 1.

Once control circuitry 304 receives confirmation of the settings, ittransmits one or more synchronization invitations to the selected buddyor buddies and/or group(s). The synchronization invitations may betransmitted over communications network 414. The communicationscircuitry of the user device may communicate directly with other users'user device(s), which may be one of user television equipment 402, usercomputer equipment 404, or wireless user communications device 406, totransmit invitations, or the invitations may be transferred through acentral server or other centralized system. The user device may receiveresponses from the invitees via the same communication pathway throughwhich the invitation was sent, such as communications network 414, orvia a different communication pathway.

The synchronization invitation includes data related to the programselected, such as the program title, the program time, and the stationon which the program airs. In some embodiments, the synchronizationindication includes a program identifier with which control circuitry onthe receiving user equipment can look up the program information from,for example, guidance data in storage 308 or media guidance data source418. The synchronization also includes data related to the sender of theinvitation, such as name, IP address, email address, telephone number,location, or user profile information. The synchronization may includesimilar data related to the other invitees.

Control circuitry on the receiving user equipment processes the receivedsynchronization invitation to generate Synchronization Invitation screen1000, shown in FIG. 10. A synchronization invitation may be viewed on,for example, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,or wireless user communications device 406. The synchronizationinvitation may be presented on the same user device that will displaythe synchronized program or a different device. For example, a user whowatches synchronized programs on user television equipment 402 mayreceive synchronization invitations his wireless user communicationsdevice 406, since he may be able to respond to invitations more quicklyor with greater ease using his wireless user communications device 406than using his user television equipment 402. In some embodiments, thesynchronization invitation is sent to multiple devices associated with asingle user. The user may be able to respond to the invitation on anydevice. In addition to receiving a response to the invitation to send tothe inviter, control circuitry 304 of the device may receive anindication of the device on which he will watch the program.

The Synchronization Invitation 1000 includes a synchronization summary1002, which includes information about the program selected, e.g., theprogram title, the channel on which the program airs locally, and thetime at which the program is scheduled for synchronized viewing. Thesummary portion of the invitation also displays the other participants.In some embodiments, the invitation includes more detailed statusinformation of the participants, such as indications of the user fromwhich the invitation originated, which users have accepted theinvitation, which users have declined the invitation, and which usershave not yet responded to the invitation.

Control circuitry 304 of the user device receiving the invitation (i.e.,the invitee) causes its associated display to present, below thesynchronization summary 1002, options for responding to the invitation,such as a button to accept the invitation 1004, a button to accept theinvitation and set a reminder 1006, a button to decline the invitation1008, and a button to adjust the synchronization settings 1010. Whencontrol circuitry 304 of the invitee receives a decision to accept,accept and set a reminder, or decline, control circuitry 304 sends thedecision to the other participants. When control circuitry 304 of theinvitee receives a decision to accept and set a reminder or adjust thesynchronization, it causes a display to present a user interface screenor overlay to the user with which the user can input reminder settingsor synchronization setting adjustments. Control circuitry 304 of theinvitee sends the synchronization setting adjustments to the other usersinvited for synchronized viewing. The other users may accept the revisedsynchronization settings, reject the revised synchronization settings,further adjust the synchronization settings, or decline to participatein the revised synchronization.

In some embodiments, control circuitry may be programmed to generate andsend automatic responses to invitations. For example, as instructed bythe user, control circuitry 304 may automatically accept invitationsfrom particular users or for particular programs, or automaticallydecline invitations from particular users or particular programs. Insome embodiments, after a user has agreed to participate synchronizedviewing of a program, control circuitry 304 may be programmed to declineadditional invitations for the same program. Control circuitry 304 maybe programmed to decline invitations having synchronized viewingscheduled during a particular time interval, e.g., during the user'swork hours, or while the user is on vacation.

In addition to sending and receiving the invitations, control circuitry304 at the inviting user device and/or the invited user devicedetermines whether it should record the program. In some embodiments, aparticular user device should record the program if the time at whichthe selected program becomes available at that user device is earlierthan the time at which the program becomes available at another of theparticipating user devices. For example, if a user device located inCalifornia invites a buddy in New York to simultaneously view a program,the program may become available (e.g., is broadcast) in Californiaafter it becomes available (e.g., is broadcast) in New York. In thiscase, the California viewer is in the latest broadcasting location, andthe user device in New York records the program when it is broadcast atan earlier time, e.g., three hours earlier (step 1620).

In order to determine if it should record the program, control circuitry304 retrieves from storage 308 and/or media guidance data source 418schedule information indicating when the program will be available tothe user device. Control circuitry 304 also receives scheduleinformation of one or more other user devices participating in orinvited to participate in synchronized viewing. For example, controlcircuitry 304 may determine the location of a participating device and,based on the location, retrieve schedule information over thecommunications network from the media guidance data source 418 or fromanother provider of schedule information. In some embodiments, controlcircuitry 304 sends to other invited user devices a request that theother user devices return schedule information. The control circuitrymay also send information identifying the program, and may request onlythe time at which the program becomes available at the respective userdevices, rather than all of the schedule information. Control circuitry304 then may receive the schedule information for at least the programof interest directly from the other user devices.

Once control circuitry 304 has retrieved or received the scheduleinformation that indicates what time the program becomes available(i.e., availability time) in its own location and for the other inviteduser devices, control circuitry 304 compares its availability time tothe availability times of the other user device. Control circuitry 304may adjust some or all of the availability times to a common time zone,e.g., its own time zone or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), to performthe comparison. If the result of the comparison indicates that theavailability time of control circuitry 304 is before the availabilitytime of at least one other user device, control circuitry 304automatically schedules the recording of the program. Control circuitry304 may also be configured to send the results of the comparison to theother user devices. Control circuitry 304 may alternatively oradditionally send instructions to automatically schedule the recordingof the program to other user devices if the comparison identifies otheruser devices with an availability time before the availability time ofat least one user device. In some embodiments, the above describedprocess of determining which user device(s) should record the program isperformed by a central server, and the central server sends instructionsto automatically record the program to the applicable user devices.

Once the program has become available to all of the user devices, theprogram is synchronized as the program is being transmitted to the userdevice with the latest availability time. During synchronization, thedevice or devices with the latest availability time display the programas it is transmitted, while the other device or devices display theprogram from storage 308. At the scheduled time for synchronized displayof the program (i.e., the latest availability time), the user devicesmay automatically begin displaying the synchronized program, or one ormore of the participants may need to input a command to tune to theprogram or otherwise begin participating in synchronized viewing.

The user device at which the program becomes available last may changein between the initial scheduling of the synchronization and the timethat the synchronization occurs. For example, participants may beinvited in three locations in which a program becomes available at 7:00pm EST in a first location, at 8:00 pm EST in a second location, and9:00 pm EST in a third location. The participants are scheduled to allview the program at 9:00 pm EST. Initially, the third location is wherethe program becomes available last. If all of the users in the thirdlocation decline to participate, the second location becomes thelocation in which the program becomes available last. In this case, theremaining participants can view the synchronized program at theoriginally scheduled time (9:00 pm EST), or they may watch the programat 8:00 pm EST. If they advance the viewing to 8:00 pm EST, the userdevices in the second location may access the program as it is broadcastrather than accessing the recorded program from storage. In anotherexample, if the participants in the third location accept the invitationand invite a participant in a fourth location in which the programbecomes available at 10:00 pm EST, the scheduled viewing time for all ofthe original participants shifts 1 hour later, and the user devices inthe third location are no longer in the latest location in which theprogram becomes available. Therefore, the user devices at the thirdlocation would record the program as it is made available.

The user of the interactive media guidance application may wish to addbuddies or groups or otherwise modify the buddy and/or group lists. ABuddy Setup screen 1100 for modifying buddies and groups is shown inFIG. 11. The Buddy Setup screen 1100 includes a section displaying alist of buddies 1102, a section displaying a list of groups 1110, and asection for adding a new buddy or group 1112. The buddy list 1102 andgroup list 1110 can be navigated using, for example, scroll bars 1108 ifa user has more buddies or groups than can be displayed on the screen.Information for each of the buddies and groups can be edited byselecting an edit button 1104. When control circuitry 304 receives aselection to edit a buddy, control circuitry 304 causes the display topresent a user interface on a new screen or an overlay with which theuser can input, for example, a change in the name or contact informationof a buddy. When control circuitry 304 receives a selection to edit agroup, control circuitry 304 instructs the display to present a userinterface on a new screen or an overlay with which the user can input,for example, additions or deletions to group members, or changes innames of group members and/or contact information of group members. TheBuddy Setup screen may also include a way for a user to delete buddiesor groups. For example, the Buddy Setup screen 1100 includes an “X” 1106next to each buddy and group; selecting the “X” 1106 causes controlcircuitry 304 to delete the buddy or group. Control circuitry 304 mayinstruct the display to present a confirmation screen or overlay beforea buddy or group is deleted.

The section for adding a new buddy or group 1112 includes a New Buddysection 1114 and a New Group section 1116. In the New Buddy section1114, the user can enter the name and contact information, such as emailaddress or telephone number or the buddy, and/or IP address of thebuddy's user equipment. The contact information allows control circuitry304 to send synchronization invitations to the buddy via acommunications channel, and it may enable the user device to communicatewith the buddy's user device during synchronized viewing. In someembodiments, control circuitry 304 generates a notification to a newbuddy that the user has added the new buddy and instructs the userdevice to send the notification to the new buddy. The new buddy may needto confirm an invitation that he wants to be added as the user's buddy.This may also cause the new buddy's control circuitry to add theinviting user as a buddy. In the New Group section 1116, the user caninput a name for the new group and select a Select Members button 1118.When control circuitry 304 receives a selection of the Select Membersbutton 1118, control circuitry 304 instructs the display to present auser interface on a new screen or an overlay with which the user canselect buddies to add to the group.

In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein relate tocontrol circuitry 304 that notifies users if another viewer with whichthey are scheduled for synchronized viewing has already viewed a programor a portion of a program. Control circuitry 304 may even prevent aviewer who has seen a program from engaging in synchronized viewing ofthat program at the scheduled time. This prevents viewers who havealready watched, for example, a game show or a drama, from providinganswers to puzzles or questions that the user learned in a previousviewing or spoiling the plotline of a drama for the other viewers. Toavoid accidental viewing of a program scheduled for synchronizedviewing, control circuitry 304 can provide a warning to the user if heattempts to view such a program. For example, a program guide screen1200 including a warning overlay screen 1206 for warning a user that theuser is attempting to view a program scheduled for later synchronizedviewing is shown in FIG. 12.

To help safeguard a viewer from the consequences of viewing a programbefore it is scheduled for synchronized viewing, the interactive mediaguidance application displays an on-screen warning 1206 if the userattempts to watch the program by, for example, selecting the program ina program guide 1202, entering the channel on a user input device, e.g.,a remote control, selecting the program from a list of availableprograms, or purchasing a pay-per-view program. The warning screen 1206provides information about the scheduled viewing and accepts inputindicating whether the interactive media guidance application shouldcause the program to be presented.

Despite such a warning, a user may still decide to watch a programbefore its scheduled time for synchronized viewing. So, controlcircuitry 304 monitors the programs being viewed on the device todetermine whether the device is displaying or has already displayed theprogram scheduled for synchronized viewing before the scheduled time forsynchronized viewing. If control circuitry 304 determines that theviewer has viewed the program ahead of the scheduled time, controlcircuitry 304 automatically sends an alert to the other devicesscheduled to participate in synchronized viewing. In some embodiments,this information is registered or stored at a central database forretrieval by the other user devices. User devices may able to determinewhether another user device has viewed a program without the other userdevice transmitting an alert.

When control circuitry determines or receives an indication that anotheruser device has viewed the program, control circuitry 304 may present awarning indicator as shown in FIG. 13 as the synchronized program isbeing displayed. The warning indicator indicates to the viewer that auser participating in synchronized viewing has already watched all orpart of the program and is still engaging in the synchronized viewing.Control circuitry 304 may receive a selection indicating that the userwould like to view more information related to the warning. Such aselection may be received from a user input device with which the usercan, for example, click or scroll over the warning indicator or press aparticular button. Receiving a user selection that the user would liketo see more information related to the warning causes control circuitry304 to instruct the display to present, on an overlay screen or newscreen, names of viewers who have watched the program, how much of theprogram they watched, and/or other pertinent information. If only aportion of the program has been viewed previously by one or moreparticipants, control circuitry 304 may cause the warning indicator tobe removed after the segments that have already been viewed during thesynchronized viewing. In other embodiments, warning indicator 1304includes an indication of which other viewers have watched the programand/or other pertinent information.

Control circuitry 304 and communication paths may enable interactivecommunication between viewers participating in synchronized viewing. Twoillustrative display screens 1400 and 1500 showing interactivesynchronized viewing are shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. In each case, aportion of the screen is used for interacting with other users engagedin synchronized viewing. Control circuitry 304 may cause the display ofthe program to be resized, either to scale or not to scale, above theinteraction portion of the screen. Alternatively, the interactionportion may be laid over top of the program, which is not resized, andthe interaction portion may be partially transparent. The interactionportion need not be below the synchronized program, but may be above it,to the side, or on a different display entirely.

The display screen 1400 shown in FIG. 14 includes a text commentaryportion 1404 where users can enter text comments using, for example, akeyboard, a touch pad, an on-screen keyboard, or telephone text entry.The display screen also shows the comments of other users engaged in thesynchronized viewing. The display screen 1500 shown in FIG. 15 includesa video chatting portion 1504 where users may view and listen to otherparticipants. The user equipment may include a camera and a microphoneso that the user may participate in video chatting. Control circuitry304 may allow a user to mute and/or remove the image of one or more ofthe other viewers participating in the synchronized viewing.

In a specific embodiment, the program is a video provided to a firstuser device and a second user device via a first and secondvideo-on-demand (VOD) provider, respectively. A VOD provider may be, forexample, a cable provider, a satellite provider, or an internetprovider. In some embodiments, one or more of the VOD providers may be astreaming media service. For example, the first user device may access asubscription to a first VOD provider (e.g., HULU PLUS), and the seconduser device may access a subscription to a second VOD provider (e.g.,TIME WARNER CABLE VOD). A synchronization application, described below,may run on the user devices to enable synchronization of a retrievedVOD. A particular program may be available from the first VOD providerbefore becoming available from the second VOD provider. In thisembodiment, the availability may not be based on the location in whichthe user device is located. Neither user device records the program whenit becomes available, since the user devices can access the stored videoon command from their respective VOD providers.

A user may instruct control circuitry 304 of a particular scheduled timefor synchronized viewing, wherein the scheduled time is after the timeat which the program is expected to be available from both VODproviders. In other embodiments, the scheduled time may be the time atwhich the video becomes available from by the second VOD provider. Thetime at which a program becomes available by one or both VOD providersmay not be known. In such a case, control circuitry can be instructed togenerate an alert for one or both of the users when the program becomesavailable. The users can then opt to either immediately view the programor schedule a later time for synchronized viewing of the program. Whensynchronized, each video accesses a streaming version of the program orvideo from their respective VOD provider.

As described above in relation to FIG. 12, if control circuitry 304 inthe first user equipment receives a request to access the program aheadof the scheduled time for synchronized viewing or before it becomesavailable by the second user equipment, control circuitry 304 of thefirst user equipment may generate a warning and instruct that thewarning be displayed. The user can then decide whether or not to viewthe program. If the user decides to view the program, control circuitry304 at the second user device may receive an alert that the program hasbeen viewed. Such an alert may take the form of a warning indicator asdiscussed in relation to FIG. 13.

A VOD application for accessing VODs supplied by a VOD provider may ormay not enable cross-platform synchronization. In some cases, since theVOD application may not be configured for synchronizing a VOD with avideo accessed by any other user device, let alone a video accessed byanother user device from a different VOD provider, control circuitry 304may access a synchronization application that enables thesynchronization of a retrieved VOD with a video accessed by another userdevice. The synchronization application provides instructions with whichcontrol circuitry 304 can access and, in some embodiments, display avideo feed from a VOD application running on the same user device as thesynchronization application. The synchronization application may alsoprovide instructions with which control circuitry 304 can synchronizethe program being displayed on the first user device with the programbeing displayed on the second user device using data retrieved from asecond user device. Techniques for synchronizing the display of aprogram are discussed below in relation to steps 1618 and 1622 of FIG.16.

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative process 1600 for setting up and engagingin synchronized viewing. The process includes receiving informationrelated to the program for synchronized viewing, the other participantsfor synchronized viewing, a reminder request, and a synchronized viewingfrequency of the program (steps 1602-1610). The process then involvessending a synchronization invitation and, in some cases, recording theprogram (steps 1614, 1616, and 1620). The process further involvessynchronizing the program (steps 1618 and 1622).

Control circuitry 304 in a user device receives from user inputinterface 310 user input indicating a program to be scheduled forsynchronized viewing (step 1602). For example, control circuitry 304 mayinstruct display 312 to present a user interface for receiving a userselection in a program in a program guide, as described in reference toFIG. 5. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 may alternativelycause display 312 to present a list of all available programs, a list ofrecently released programs, a list of pay-per-view programs, a list of auser's favorite programs, or any other list or other representation ofprograms. Control circuitry 304 may provide an interface on display 312that allows a user to search for programs using, for example, titles,actors, or keywords using user input interface 310.

Control circuitry 304 may also receive from user input interface 310user input indicating one or more buddies or groups to be invited toparticipate in synchronized viewing (step 1604). For example, controlcircuitry 304 may provide a user interface via display 312 for receivingvia user input interface 310 a user selection of buddies or groups, asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 7. In some embodiments, controlcircuitry 304 may provide a list of favorite buddies and/or groups.Control circuitry 304 may determine and instruct display 312 to presenta list of buddies and/or groups that it predicts a user will want toinvite based on participants in the user's previous synchronizedviewing. Furthermore, once control circuitry 304 receives one or moreselections of buddies or groups from the user via user input interface310, control circuitry 304 determines and causes the display ofsuggested additional buddies that the user is more likely to want toinvite based on the buddy or buddies already selected.

Control circuitry 304 may also receive from a user via user inputinterface 310 a request to receive a reminder for the synchronizedviewing (step 1606). For example, control circuitry 304 may provide auser interface on display 312 for receiving via user input interface 310a request for a reminder as described in reference to FIG. 8. Controlcircuitry 304 may also provide a user interface on display 312 forreceiving via user input interface 310 a reminder communication methodpreference from a user. For example, the user may be able to select toreceive a reminder on user television equipment 402, user computerequipment 404, wireless user communications device 406, an alarm clock,or another device for transmitting a reminder. The user can select thata reminder be automatically created for invitees.

Control circuitry 304 may determine whether the selected program is partof an ongoing series (decision 1608). If the program is part of aseries, control circuitry 304 may receive from a user via user inputinterface 310 an indication of a frequency with which the program shouldbe scheduled for synchronized viewing (step 1610). For example, controlcircuitry 304 may provide a user interface on display 312 for receivingvia user input interface 310 a request to schedule the program forsynchronized viewing a single time, each time any episode in the seriesis aired, or each time a new episode of the series is aired, asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 8. For example, the program may bepart of a series, a miniseries, or a movie series (e.g., a trilogy). Ifthe program is a sports event, control circuitry 304 may receive arequest from the user that similar sports programs be scheduled forsynchronized viewing. For example, if a user is scheduling synchronizedviewing of the New York Jets vs. the New England Patriots, controlcircuitry 304 may allow the user to request via user input interface 310that all New York Jets games be scheduled for synchronized viewing.Similarly, control circuitry 304 may allow other types of programshaving a common theme or participants, such as award shows or stand-upcomedy programming featuring a particular comedian, to be scheduled as agroup for synchronized viewing even though they are not part of aseries.

Steps 1602 through 1610 do not have to be performed in the order shownin FIG. 16, but can be performed in any order. Additionally, one or moreof the steps 1602 through 1610 may be omitted. Once information relatedto some or all of the program, buddies and/or groups, reminder, andfrequency of the program selected for synchronized viewing have beenreceived, control circuitry 304 may seek a user confirmation of thesynchronization selections (step 1612). For example, control circuitry304 may instruct display 312 to present a Synchronization Summary screen900 as described in relation to FIG. 9. When control circuitry 304receives via user input interface 310 a selection of “Done”, thesynchronization is considered confirmed and synchronized viewing isscheduled.

Once control circuitry 304 receives confirmation, it transmitssynchronization invitations to the selected buddy or buddies and/orgroup(s) via communications network 414 (step 1614). The user device maycommunicate directly with other users' user device(s) to transmitinvitations, or the invitations may be transferred through a centralserver or other centralized system. The user device may receiveresponses from the invitees via the same communication pathway ofcommunications network 414 through which the invitation was sent or viaa different communication pathway.

Control circuitry 304 determines whether it is running on a user deviceon which the program becomes available the latest of the participatinguser devices by comparing the time at which the program becomesavailable at the user device to the time(s) at which the program becomesavailable at other participating user devices (decision 1616). Forexample, if a user device located in California invites a buddy in NewYork to simultaneously view a program, the program may become available(e.g., is broadcast) in California after it becomes available (e.g., isbroadcast) in New York. In this case, the California viewer is in thelatest broadcasting location, and the user device in New York recordsthe program when it is broadcast at an earlier time, e.g., three hoursearlier. The program is then synchronized as the program is beingtransmitted to and received by the user device in California (step1618). At the scheduled time for synchronized display of the program,the user devices may automatically begin displaying the synchronizedprogram, or one or more of the participants may need to input a commandto tune to the program or otherwise begin participating in synchronizedviewing.

On the other hand, if the user device located in New York invites abuddy in California to view a program, the program may be broadcast inNew York before it is broadcast in California. So, the user device inNew York is not in the latest broadcast location. In this case, controlcircuitry 304 of the user device in New York send an instruction viacommunications network 414 to the user device in New York to record theprogram when it is transmitted (step 1620), and the stored program issynchronized with the program being broadcast in California as it isbeing broadcast (step 1622).

A program recorded, aired, or otherwise transmitted in one location maynot line up precisely with a program recorded, aired, or otherwisetransmitted in a second location, even if the first and second locationsare in the same time zone. For example, the lengths of theadvertisements of programs available to different users or in differentlocations may differ, or the speed at which the program is displayed maybe slightly faster or slower at one location than another. If theconnection over which a program is being transmitted has anyinstability, the instability may create an interruption or delay in thedata stream. Therefore, the user devices may coordinate to ensuresimultaneous display of the program. In some embodiments, user devicesare configured to communicate directly with other user devices in one ormore other locations via communications network 414. In suchembodiments, control circuitry 304 on a first user device may be a“synchronization master” for coordinating the viewing. For a particularprogram scheduled for synchronized viewing, the synchronization mastermay be the user device that scheduled the synchronized viewing, the userdevice with the most advanced processor, the user device that is themost centrally located geographically, the user device with a particularsoftware package for carrying out the functions of a synchronizationmaster, or selected for some other reason. The synchronization mastercan be selected by the device that scheduled the synchronized viewing,self-appointed, selected by a central server, or selected by a user.

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative process 1700 for using the synchronizationmaster to synchronize viewing on multiple devices. The synchronizationmaster may receive, from the other participating user devices viacommunications network 414, synchronization data that allows thesynchronization master to automatically maintain the synchronizedviewing for the participants (step 1702). For example, thesynchronization data may include information indicating a particularscreen or segment and the time at the screen or segment was or will bedisplayed so that the synchronization master can compare the screens orsegments displayed by particular devices at a particular time. In otherembodiments, the synchronization master determines or receives anindication of the amount of time it takes for data to be received fromthe other participating devices, i.e., the communication delays incommunications network 414 between each participating device and thesynchronization master. This way, the synchronization master candetermine the time at which a screen or segment was displayed bysubtracting the communication lag from the time that the informationrelated to the screen or segment was received at the synchronizationmaster. If participating user device is playing a recording rather thandisplaying a program as it is being transmitted, control circuitry 304on the participating user device may automatically send synchronizationdata related to at least the display speed and advertisement timing ofthe recording to the synchronization master before the program and/oradvertisements are displayed. This may improve the synchronization, andit may reduce the processing demand on the synchronization master.

Once the synchronization master has received synchronization data fromthe other participating user devices, the synchronization master usesthe received synchronization to compare the currently display at thedevices and determine whether or not the user devices are displaying theprogram simultaneously (decision 1704). As long as the display issimultaneous, the synchronization continues receiving and analyzingsynchronization data (steps 1702 and 1704). If the display is determinedto no longer be simultaneous, e.g., if an advertisement displayed by afirst user device is longer than an advertisement displayed by a seconduser device, the synchronization master automatically generates controlcommands (step 1706) and sends the commands via communications network414 to some or all of the user devices (step 1708) to cause thereceiving user device(s) to adjust the display of the program. In theaforementioned example, the synchronization master may generate and senda command to the first user device to fast forward or skip through theadvertisement or a command to the second user device to rewind and/orpause until the program displayed at the first user device catches up,or the synchronization master may generate and send both types ofcommands. The synchronization master also may generate commands for itsown program display.

To accommodate the display of a program as it is being aired orotherwise transmitted in real-time, a user device may include a bufferthat enables minor adjustments in the display of the program. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 304 instructs the user device torecord the program as it is being aired and as it is being synchronized;in this case, the display of the stored program can be adjusted.

In some embodiments, a central server or a plurality of serverscoordinates the synchronized viewing. In this case, the central serveror servers may perform some or all of the functions described above inrelation to the synchronization master.

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative process 1800 for receiving and respondingto a synchronization invitation and engaging in synchronized viewing.The process includes receiving and displaying an invitation forsynchronized viewing of a program (steps 1802 and 1804). The processthen involves receiving a response to the synchronization invitation(steps 1806-1814). The process further involves recording and presentingthe program (steps 1816-1822).

A user device receives via communication network 414 a synchronizationinvitation from another user device at another location (step 1802). Thesynchronization invitation includes information relating to a programscheduled for synchronized viewing. The synchronization invitation maybe received directly from the other user device or may be deliveredthrough a network or from a central server. Control circuitry 304 at theuser device receiving the invitation then instructs display 312 topresent the invitation to the user (step 1804). For example, controlcircuitry 304 may instruct display 312 to present a user interface fordisplaying a summary of the invitation including, e.g., the programtitle, the other participants, and the scheduled viewing time, asdescribed in relation to FIG. 10.

Control circuitry 304 may also receive via user input interface 310 auser's response to the invitation as described in relation to FIG. 10.In this case, control circuitry 304 receives information indicatingwhether the user has confirmed participation in synchronized viewing(decision 1806). If control circuitry 304 receives an indication viauser input interface 310 that the user has declined the invitation,control circuitry 304 cancels the scheduled synchronization (step 1808)and may send a notification via communications network 414 to theinviting user device and in some embodiments to the other invited userdevices. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 can allow the userto defer making a decision right away as to whether he will participatein the synchronized viewing. In such embodiments, control circuitry 304may add the synchronized viewing to a schedule of synchronized viewing,although control circuitry 304 may denote that the response was deferredand that the user has not yet committed to the synchronized viewing.

If the user has accepted the invitation, control circuitry 304determines whether the user wishes to change any features of thesynchronized viewing, e.g., the program to be viewed, the otherparticipants, whether a reminder will be given, or the scheduledfrequency (step 1810). In the user interface shown in FIG. 10, controlcircuitry 304 and user input interface 310 allow a user to accept theinvitation as received by selecting button 1006, accept the invitationas received and set a reminder by selecting button 1008, or accept theinvitation upon adjusting the synchronization settings by selectingbutton 1012. In the case that control circuitry 304 receives via userinput interface 310 user input indicating that the user wishes to adjustthe settings, control circuitry 304 provides via display 312 a userinterface similar to the interfaces shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 6 from whichthe user can make the desired changes with user input interface 310(step 1812). Once control circuitry 304 has received via user inputinterface 310 user adjustments to the synchronization or has receivedinput that the user does not wish to adjust the synchronizationsettings, control circuitry 304 may request that the user confirm thesettings (1814). If the user has adjusted the synchronization settings,control circuitry 304 causes the user device to send via communicationsnetwork 414 the changes to the other participants, who may accept therevised synchronization settings, reject the revised synchronizationsettings, further adjust the synchronization settings, or decline toparticipate in the revised synchronization.

Once the settings have been confirmed, control circuitry 304 determineswhether it is running on user equipment that is in the location in whichthe program becomes available the latest of all the participatinglocations (decision 1818). This step may be similar to decision 1618described in relation to FIG. 16. Control circuitry 304 may record instorage 308 the program when it becomes available (step 1820) andparticipates in synchronized viewing when all of the participating userdevices can access the program (steps 1822 and 1818). The methods forprogram synchronization may be similar to the methods for programsynchronization described above in relation to FIG. 16.

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative process 1900 for addressing a situation inwhich a user device scheduled for synchronized viewing of a program hasviewed the program ahead of schedule. The process includes receiving viacommunication network 414 data related to a scheduled synchronizedviewing of a program (step 1902). The process then involves determiningwhether the device has displayed the program and, if so, sending analert to other devices (steps 1904 and 1906). The process may furtherinclude addressing a situation in which one of the devices scheduled toparticipate in synchronized viewing has viewed the program (steps1908-1916).

Control circuitry 304 in a user device receives via communicationsnetwork 414 data related to a scheduled synchronized viewing of aprogram (step 1902). The data may be received either from a userinteracting with the user device, as described in relation to steps1602-1612 of FIG. 16, or through an invitation from another user devicein another location, as described in relation to step 1902 of FIG. 19.Control circuitry 304 monitors the programs being viewed on the deviceto determine whether the device is displaying or has already displayedthe program scheduled for synchronized viewing before the scheduled timefor synchronized viewing (step 1904). As described above in relation toFIG. 12, it is undesirable for a participant in synchronized viewing tohave viewed the program before the other participants, as this may, forexample, allow the viewer to cheat on a game show or spoil the plot of adrama or the result of a sports event. Thus, if control circuitry 304determines that the viewer has viewed the program ahead of the scheduledtime, control circuitry 304 automatically sends an alert viacommunications network 414 to the other devices scheduled to participatein synchronized viewing (step 1906). In some embodiments, thisinformation is registered or stored at a central database for retrievalby the other user device. A user device may able to determine whetheranother user device has viewed a program without the other user devicetransmitting an alert, e.g., by querying the other user device orquerying media content source 416.

If control circuitry 304 determines that no participants have viewed theprogram ahead of schedule, the program is simultaneously presented (step1920), as described above in relation to FIGS. 16 and 17. If controlcircuitry 304 determines that a participant has viewed the program aheadof schedule, a variety of actions could be taken, and the particularaction may be dictated by guidelines. The guidelines for what action totake if the program was viewed may be established by the user whocreated the invitation, established by the synchronization master,determined based on a vote, or determined based on other means.Exemplary guidelines are described below in relation to steps 1910-1918.

First, control circuitry 304 on the user device that has displayed theprogram before the scheduled time determines if the guidelines in placefor the scheduled program still permit the user to participate in thesynchronized viewing (decision 1910). If the established guidelinesdictate that the user may not participate, control circuitry 304prevents the user device from participating so that the user is excluded(step 1912).

Next, if the guidelines dictate that the user is still permitted toparticipate in the synchronized viewing, control circuitry 304 on theuser device that has displayed the program ahead of schedule determineswhether it should allow the user to participate in a discussion, such asthe text or video chatting described above in relation to FIGS. 14 and15 (decision 1914). If the user is allowed to participate in thediscussion, control circuitry 304 on other participating user devicesmay display a warning on display 312, such as the warning shown in anddescribed in relation to FIG. 13 (step 1918). If the user is notpermitted to participate in the discussion, control circuitry 304 on theuser device that has displayed the program ahead of schedule may causedisplay 312 to present the program and the discussion of the otherparticipants, but exclude the user from participating in the discussion(step 1916).

In some embodiments, these actions are carried out not by controlcircuitry 304 on the user device that presented the program ahead ofschedule, but rather, is carried out by a central server, asynchronization master, or another device inaccessible to the user. Thiswould prevent the user from tampering with control circuitry 304 or thesoftware running on control circuitry 304 such that it the user is stillable to participate in the synchronized viewing and/or the discussion.

In some embodiments, the actions to take if the program was alreadyviewed may be based on which participant has viewed the program. Forexample, if one participant is known to be a cheater or a blabbermouth,the participant may be excluded from synchronized viewing. On the otherhand, if another participant has a poor memory or can be trusted not tospoil the program, that participant may be allowed to engage insynchronized viewing. In some embodiments, a predetermined course of maybe overridden if the other participants believe that a viewer has infact not viewed the program but was, for example, viewed by anothermember of the participant's household.

FIG. 20 shows an illustrative process 2000 for addressing a situation inwhich a device scheduled for synchronized viewing of a program hasviewed a part the program ahead of schedule. The process includesreceiving data related to a scheduled synchronized viewing of a program(step 2002). The process then involves determining whether the devicehas displayed a part of the program and, if so, sending an alert toother devices (steps 2004 and 2006). The process may further includeaddressing a situation in which one of the devices scheduled toparticipate in synchronized viewing has viewed a part the program (steps2008-2020).

The steps of process 2000 are similar to the steps of process 1900 andmay be carried out in a similar manner. However, in process 2000, it isdetermined whether a user device has displayed only a part or segment ofthe program, rather than the entire program (decision 2004). In thiscase, control circuitry 304 and/or the central server may take any ofthe actions described above with respect to process 1900. However, oncethe other participants have viewed the part that was presented ahead ofschedule, the user device that had presented the program ahead ofschedule may be permitted to participate in synchronized viewing. Inthis case, control circuitry 304 may automatically begin synchronizedviewing once the user is permitted to participate, or the user mayrequest to be added to the synchronized viewing.

If user device has displayed a middle segment or an end segment of aprogram rather than a beginning segment, control circuitry 304 may ormay not allow the user to participate in synchronized viewing of thepart of the program up to the segment that the user device has alreadybeen presented.

It should be understood that the above steps of the flow diagrams ofFIGS. 16-20 may be executed or performed in any order or sequence notlimited to the order and sequence shown and described in the figures.Also, some of the above steps of the flow diagrams of FIGS. 16-20 may beexecuted or performed substantially simultaneously where appropriate orin parallel to reduce latency and processing times.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for synchronizing play of an on-demandmedia asset across multiple devices, the method comprising: receiving,with control circuitry, a request to synchronize play of the on-demandmedia asset on a first user device and a second user device; determiningthat the on-demand media asset is accessible by the first user devicefrom a first media source and is accessible by the second user devicefrom a second media source; and synchronizing, based on the determining,play of the on-demand media asset on the first user device and thesecond user device.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising causingthe first user device to access a first video stream from the firstmedia source and the second user device to access a second video streamfrom the second media source.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: buffering, at the second user device, the on-demand mediaasset as it is being streamed; and adjusting, at the second user device,the play of the on-demand media asset using the buffered media assetduring the streaming of the on-demand media asset to maintainsynchronization with the on-demand media asset being played at the firstuser device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user device isat a first location and the second user device is at a second location,and wherein the first and the second locations are in differentgeographical time zones.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thesynchronizing play further comprises at least one of pausing, speedingup, or slowing down the on-demand media asset at the first user deviceor the second user device.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a request to access the on-demand media asset at the firstuser device prior to the synchronizing; and in response to the requestto access the on-demand media asset, generating for display an alertindicating existence of the request to synchronize play of the on-demandmedia asset and that the on-demand media asset is not yet accessible bythe second user device.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisingstoring the on-demand media asset on a storage device associated withthe first user device when the on-demand media asset becomes availablefor access by the first user device.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining whether or not the on-demand media asset has beendisplayed, prior to the synchronizing, by the first user device.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein, in response to determining that theon-demand media asset has been displayed by the first user device,preventing synchronized play of the on-demand media asset at the firstuser device with the on-demand media asset at the second user device.10. The method of claim 8, wherein, in response to determining that theon-demand media asset has been displayed by the first user device,generating for display an alert indicating that the on-demand mediaasset has been displayed at the first user device before becomingavailable for access by the second user device.
 11. The method of claim8, further comprising determining that the first user device hasdisplayed a first portion of the on-demand media asset and the firstuser device has not displayed a second portion of the on-demand mediaasset; wherein the synchronizing play comprises synchronizing play ofonly the second portion of the on-demand media asset at the first userdevice and the second user device.
 12. A system for synchronizing playof an on-demand media asset across multiple devices, the systemcomprising: communications circuitry configured to: receive a request tosynchronize play of the on-demand media asset on a first user device anda second user device; a processor configured to: determine that theon-demand media asset is accessible by the first user device from afirst media source and is accessible by the second user device from asecond media source; and synchronize, based on the determining, play ofthe on-demand media asset on the first user device and the second userdevice.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured to: cause the first user device to access a firstvideo stream from the first media source and the second user device toaccess a second video stream from the second media source.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein a control circuitry at the second userdevice is configured to: buffer the on-demand media asset as it is beingstreamed; and adjust the play of the on-demand media asset using thebuffered media asset during the streaming of the on-demand media assetto maintain synchronization with the on-demand media asset being playedat the first user device.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the firstuser device is at a first location and the second user device is at asecond location, and wherein the first and the second locations are indifferent geographical time zones.
 16. The system of claim 12, whereinthe synchronizing play further comprises at least one of pausing,speeding up, or slowing down the on-demand media asset at the first userdevice or the second user device.
 17. The system of claim 12, whereinthe control circuitry is further configured to: receive a request toaccess the on-demand media asset at the first user device prior to thesynchronizing; and in response to the request to access the on-demandmedia asset, generate for display an alert indicating existence of therequest to synchronize play of the on-demand media asset and that theon-demand media asset is not yet accessible by the second user device.18. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to store the on-demand media asset on a storage deviceassociated with the first user device when the on-demand media assetbecomes available for access by the first user device.
 19. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the control circuitry is configured to determinewhether or not the on-demand media asset has been displayed, prior tothe synchronizing, by the first user device.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein, in response to determining that the on-demand media asset hasbeen displayed by the first user device, the control circuitry isfurther configured to prevent synchronized play of the on-demand mediaasset at the first user device with the on-demand media asset at thesecond user device.
 21. The system of claim 19, wherein, in response todetermining that the on-demand media asset has been displayed by thefirst user device, the control circuitry is further configured togenerate for display an alert indicating that the on-demand media assethas been displayed at the first user device before becoming availablefor access by the second user device.
 22. The system of claim 19,wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine that the firstuser device has displayed a first portion of the on-demand media assetand the first user device has not displayed a second portion of theon-demand media asset; wherein the synchronizing play comprisessynchronizing play of only the second portion of the on-demand mediaasset at the first user device and the second user device.